Learn first, practice second approach to increase health professionals’ nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy

Madison E. Santella, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Rachel A. Wattick, Makenzie L. Barr, Tanya M. Horacek, Melissa D. Olfert

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Health professionals generally have positive attitudes towards the role of nutrition in medicine, but limited knowledge and low self-efficacy for incorporating it into routine care. To assess the effectiveness of a “learn first, practice second” intervention on the nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy of multidisciplinary health professionals, the present approach consisted of 16 weeks of online education and 2 weeks of cultural immersion in Tuscany, Italy. Data was captured via online surveys at Baseline, Post-education, Post-immersion, and Follow Up. Repeated measures ANOVA with irregular spacing was used, followed by Dunnett’s or Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel testing. Results indicate significantly improved participant nutrition knowledge (nonzero correlation p =.0136, means score p =.0075) and self-efficacy (T0-T1 p <.0001, T0-T2 p <.0001, T0-T3 p =.0002), with differences in attitude trending towards significance (p =.0764). Findings from this study suggest that a combination of online education and hands on learning experiences can be beneficial for increasing health professionals’ nutrition knowledge, confidence, and potentially attitude.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)370-377
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition
Volume71
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Keywords

  • Mediterranean Diet
  • attitude
  • experiential learning
  • nutrition education
  • self-efficacy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science

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